CVTD Board Approves New 'Boomerang' Route, First Major Service Addition Since 2008

The Cache Valley Transit District (CVTD) Board of Trustees listens to a presentation by the agency's general manager, Todd Beutler.

Chris Polansky
/ Utah Public Radio

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Call it the Boomerang. That’s the nickname Todd Beutler, the head of CVTD, is using for the new bus route expected to debut next year in Logan. It’s the first major service update for the transit district in 11 years.

“The boomerang is going to be a real change," Beutler said. "It allows us to extend our reach. I think it’s meeting the needs of a lot of requests we’ve heard: more direct service, no transfers.”

Beutler calls it the boomerang because the new route will originate at the transit center, but, instead of terminating there like existing routes, it will keep circulating both north and south. The route will serve the Utah State University campus and go as far as the Walmarts on either end of town.

Beutler said a major service change hasn’t been implemented since 2008, and this one is long overdue.

“The demand is there. The valley has grown," Beutler said. "We’re seeing the current service is hard to maintain at the level the board expects, the community expects. We want that to be reliable. It’s worth us increasing reliability so we can attract people out of their cars and give reliable service to people where that's their only choice.”

Beutler said the route will allow riders to access 60% of destinations served by the entire system, without having to make a transfer.

The route was approved by the CVTD Board of Trustees at their meeting on Wednesday. It’s expected to cost $675,000 in its first year of service, which is projected to start next May.